Top 10: Blogs for MARA Students to Add to RSS Feeds

If you read last week’s post and thought, hey what about archives/MARA, then this is for you! The same general thoughts apply:

when beginning in a new career (or perhaps furthering a career), there’s a lot of new information to absorb

taking the relatively easy step of adding in some new material to my Feedly (RSS aggregator) means that I have been able to slide new information sources into my daily reading routine

RSS feeds save time

I admit that I am in the MLIS program, not MARA, so I am no authority here. But I’ve done some Internet digging, and with some help from the iSchool Students & Alumni Facebook page (thanks Rebecca & Melissa!), here are 10+ archives blogs I recommend adding to your own RSS feed.

Archives Gighttps://archivesgig.wordpress.com/
Meredith Lowe runs this site and generally posts daily, Monday-Friday. This is not a blog of essays or articles, but rather a blog of jobs and internships in the world of archives and records management.

ArchivesAWARE!https://archivesaware.archivists.org
This blog is hosted by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and was recently established “to create an online space where professionals and students engaged in all aspects of archival work could share their experiences of and ideas for raising public awareness of archives and the value that archives and archivists add to business, government, education, and society as a whole” (via). Even though SAA runs it, they welcome submission ideas, so it might be a good avenue for you to explore if you want to get some articles published. SAA also has Off the Record, a blog mostly about association business.

ArchivesBlogshttp://archivesblogs.com/
Now this is interesting. ArchivesBlogs collects online content from blogs written about, by, and for archivists. It’s constantly updated and sortable by language – 8 different ones! You could be overwhelmed, or you could view it as “one stop shopping” and thank the internet.

iSchool Curriculum Centerhttp://ischoolapps.sjsu.edu/blogs/icc/
I admit, the title is not scintillating, and, if I’m being really honest, the content isn’t either. BUT. Dr. Main provides timely, hyper-useful information about class schedules, registration information, and everything related. She also (fairly quickly) answers questions in the comments, so it’s a good resource for iSchool students to keep an eye on.

iSchool Career Bloghttp://ischool.sjsu.edu/career-blog
While we’re on an iSchool run here, let me oh-so-coolly slip in this humble space. I’m Kate, an iSchool student, and I write here most of the time. Jill Klees also puts in her two cents. We’ve been on a light posting schedule this summer, but we are ramping up for the school year and definitely want to be sure to post about things you want to read about. So, please, make requests in the comments! In the upcoming months, I’ll share some more about social media and stuff on the web, professional organizations, and student groups. Basically, no matter what program you’re in, I want to help you network, build your career, and find jobs you love.

Entrepreneur: Networkinghttps://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/networking
So when it comes to networking, do you, like so many students, think of it as a dirty word? It’s not, not really, and Entrepreneur’s networking articles make it feel much more approachable. Obviously, the information isn’t specific to archives, but the topics covered are applicable to most career paths.

L’archivistahttp://larchivista.blogspot.com/
L’archivista is written by a working electronic records archivist, Bonnie Weddle. “In it you'll find information about electronic records issues, government transparency, open records laws, archival security, New York State history, and other abiding concerns” as well as the occasional travel or personal post. She seems really knowledgeable, her posts are well-written, and she has a long list of other interesting blogs in her right sidebar.

National Archives blogshttp://www.archives.gov/social-media/blogs.html
Or, 17 for the price of 1! The National Archives maintains all of them “in the interest of sharing more information with the public about our activities. They also exist as a channel for the public to respond to news, upcoming events, and proposed projects.” There is a wide variety to choose from, so you’re sure to find something(s) interesting!

Whew! It turns out there are a lot of blogs out there for MARA students! My hope is that you will find this list helpful, interesting, and a good jumping off point for exploring the archives world. I encourage you to set up an RSS feed for yourself if you haven’t already because by integrating new reading into my regular routine, I started to soak up all the information that’s out there. I know I’ll never be done, but at least something is managing the flow for me!

What’s in your RSS feed? What are your favorite sources for school or archives news?

Hi Kate,
Help! I am new to blogging, so I have no idea what an RSS Feed is or how it works. Can you explain a little more? What happens once you've added blogs to a feed? How is it different then logging in to the individual blogs? Do you just receive e-mail notifications when there's a new post? Thanks!

hi Marguerite -
Here's a page with some helpful information about RSS feeds: http://ischool.sjsu.edu/current-students/technology-support/social-web-rss-feeds/rss-explained
If you're new to the iSchool and enrolled in INFO 203, there's actually a module that will help you figure out RSS and set one up for you. Basically, RSS feeds aggregate your reading material for you so it's all in one place. Instead of visiting 10 different blogs, you can click on blogs and posts within your feed to quickly see what's new. I use Feedly, and it works well for me. I like that I can go to one website and see lots of organized content of my choosing.
Hope that helps!

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